David Kilpatrick said, “Phonological and Phoneme Awareness is the foundation upon which all the other layers of literacy are built.” Honestly, this quote does an incredible job of explaining the importance of phonological awareness. Since it is the foundational layer for students to read and write, it is essential for students to work on these skills from a young age. Teachers know this importance and work hard to create enjoyable activities. Thankfully, the Initial Sounds Activities for phonological awareness is the perfect way to build a strong foundation!
Initial Sounds Activities
This resource for initial sounds contains complete lesson plans and hands-on activities to practice initial sound identification. Ultimately, students with phonemic awareness can hear and identify the individual sounds in words, manipulate sounds, and blend sounds together. Since these aspects are essential to being a reader and writer, this resource ensures students have plenty of practice in fun, exciting ways.
Students will complete various small group activities to gain confidence in identifying the first sound in words.
Sound Sort:
Students will sort words by initial sound with 58 headers and 174 picture cards.
My Teacher is an Animal:
There are 36 animal picture cards to ensure students gain confidence in identifying initial consonant sounds.
Hidden Sounds:
Students will work on determining initial sounds with 29 letter cards.
Sound-O:
Students will progress through initial sound activities for phonological awareness at different speeds. So, 18 board games increase in difficulty with 36 calling cards.
Thumbs Up:
Students will love playing with the thumbs up/thumbs down props while matching initial sounds. There are 48 cards to ensure students show growth.
Feed Me:
The 6 monster game boards are always a student-favorite activity. There are 23-word lists that increase with difficulty for students to work on initial sounds at an appropriate pace.
Alphabet Soup:
Students love this game! There are 2 board games, a spoon prop, and 60 food cards to practice matching initial sounds.
Trash It:
Honestly, think of this game as Odd Man Out. There are trash can game pieces and 48 activity cards to work on initial sound recognition.
Feed the Animal:
The 33 activity cards will help ensure students gain confidence in identifying the first sounds in words.
Little Shop of Sounds:
Honestly, there are so many consonant sounds to learn! Luckily, the 60 picture cards will help students with this skill!
Vowel Vacation:
Everyone loves going on vacation! The suitcase prop and 33 picture cards will help students determine initial vowel sounds while going on a pretend trip.
Fishing for Consonants:
Many times, a student-favorite activity involves fishing. Thankfully, these 44 picture cards help students reminisce about favorite memories while matching initial consonant sounds.
Zany Zoo:
The zoo is such a fun place to go! Students will have 27 animal picture cards to support them as they work on matching initial sounds.
I Spy:
Honestly, this is a classic game that many students play from a young age. The 26 game boards will ensure students show growth at identifying beginning sounds.
Silly Circus:
Truly, students will be laughing and smiling during this silly activity. They will work on replacing initial sounds in words with 40 game cards.
Ultimately, the initial sounds activities for phonological awareness are hands-on and fun to ensure each student focuses. As time progresses, students will become confident readers and writers.
Research-Based
Honestly, there is so much research out there on the best strategies to use in the classroom. However, teachers must look through the research and ensure the data is relevant and current. Luckily, the initial sounds activities align with the Science of Reading! Teachers can trust the process and know these activities will greatly help students learn.
The Initial Sounds Activities for phonological awareness will build an incredible foundation for reading and writing success. Students will have much fun while learning about all the components that make up language. Ultimately, students and teachers will be proud of the growth students show while completing the hands-on activities.
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